To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

To Kill A Mockingbird. - Harper Lee "Show how the theme of prejudice is explored through the Characters of Boo, Atticus and Scout." In the following essay I am going to show how the theme of prejudice is explored through the Characters of Boo, Atticus and Scout. Prejudice in the novel is directed towards groups as well as individuals. As the novel progresses, the children's changing attitude toward Boo Radley is an important measurement of their development from innocence toward a grown-up moral perspective. At the beginning of the book, Boo is merely a source of childhood superstition. For Scout and Jem, their source of adventure was Boo Radley. Boo Radley was the legend of Maycomb. Scout illustrates the legend of Boo when she explains, "Inside the house live a malevolent phantom, People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him." In a way, Boo is like ghost, everyone knows he exists, but no one had ever seen him. All it needed was a few curious children to reveal the life of this mystery man, and expose his real true personality. Boo's life had been ruined by prejudice - the rumours about him. ...read more.

Middle

If his arm had been working, he would have been able to safely climb over the fence. This innocent man did not deserve what he received, but because of his race he was given no other choice. Atticus described how it was unbelievable that children were the ones who saw the truth better than adults by saying, "They've done it before and they'll do it again; and when they do it - seems only children weep." Tom's words however, no matter how truthful and convincing, stood no chance when put against a young white woman. Link Deas, Tom's former boss, explained this even more when he commented, "Well after all, he's just a Negro." This is the theme of prejudice being exploited in the form of racial difference. Tom's former boss, Link even tried to demoralize him by saying that he was just a Negro. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Atticus gives Scout the crucial piece of moral advice that governs her development for the rest of the novel. ...read more.

Conclusion

Grimes Everett and backs that man's attempts to help the Murnas there, but ignore the poverty and problems back at home in the Quarters and even in the home of the Ewells. Mrs Farrow herself even says that they can try to educate the Negroes till they're "blue in the face" but no woman can be safe still. Differences in social strata are explored largely through the overcomplicated social hierarchy of Maycomb, the ins and outs of which constantly baffle the children. The relatively well-off Finches stand near the top of Maycombs social hierarchy, with most of the townspeople beneath them. Ignorant country farmers like the Cunningham's lie below the townspeople, and the "White Trash" Ewells rest below the Cunningham's. The black community in Maycomb, despite its abundance of admirable qualities, squats below even the Ewells, enabling Bob Ewell to make up for his own lack of importance by persecuting Tom Robinson. These rigid social divisions that make up so much of the adult world are revealed in the book to be both irrational and destructive. For example, Scout cannot understand why Aunt Alexandra refuses to let her consort with young Walter Cunningham. Harper Lee uses the children's perplexity at the unpleasant layering of Maycomb society to critique the role of class status and, ultimately, prejudice in human interaction. Kyle Downey ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Harper Lee section.

Related GCSE Harper Lee essays

The children nickname him Boo as he is a ghostly, sinister character this shows they are still too young and have not established Atticus's maxim yet. On the other hand part two could be described as the 'adult's game'. It focuses upon racial prejudice, specifically Tom Robinson court trial.

However when we see Atticus in the trial scene, he is seen as a different person. He has changed from his home life to his job life and his somewhat sharp and his calculative wisdom is shown. His character stands out from the people living in the town, this is

Mayella is prejudged for where she lives and the reputation of her family. The injustice disturbing her is the way her father treats her and the rules she has to abide by. She is forced to live the way she does by her father who has taken all of her rights away.

As Atticus explains, the town authorities bend the law for the Ewells because they'll never change their ways - for instance, Mr. Ewell can hunt out of season because everyone knows he spends his relief checks on whiskey and his children won't eat if he doesn't hunt.

against blacks by for example making preposterous remarks that as a result of the trial they will start coming into their beds. When reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" one can also learn that most of Maycomb held strong views about anyone who is not white, and are not afraid to voice that opinion.

This tells us that Boo is also soft and gentle. Overall Boo sounds like a normal man. He doesn't sound like the man people said he was. All this evidence reveals that Boo is as normal as can be and it also portrays that all the rumours about Boo are false.

You understand?" Scout's world is brought into conflict with the outside world when she starts school and clashes with her teacher. At the start of the novel she finds it difficult to step inside other peoples shoes. This is shown when she invites Walter Cunningham back for lunch.